Fine Gael Manifesto.
The Fine Gael General Election 2024 Manifesto outlines a comprehensive plan across four core pillars:
1. Investing in Children and Families
- Childcare Costs: Cap at €200 per month per child, with expansions in early learning places and flexible preschool hours.
- Child Poverty: Introduce hot school meals, free healthcare for under-18s, and increase child benefits in August.
- Savings Plan: Launch "Acorn Savings Accounts" with €1,000 government contributions per child, growing to €53,316 with family contributions.
- Tax Implications: Increase the Home Carers Tax Credit to match PAYE credit and extend paid parental leave.
2. Housing and Community Development
- Housing Goals: Deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030, split across social, affordable, cost rental, and private categories.
- Breakdown of Housing Targets (2026-2030): Social: Increase from 10,500 to 12,000 homes annually. Affordable: From 5,250 to 12,000 annually. Private: From 25,250 to 32,000 annually.
- Incentives: Extend the Help to Buy Scheme until 2030 and increase relief to €40,000. Tax relief for "over-the-shop" conversions and student accommodation. Vacant Property Refurbishment Grants: €50,000 (vacant) and €70,000 (derelict) for a further 5 years.
- Student Accommodation: Deliver 2,500 new student beds annually and support rent-a-room schemes with increased reliefs.
- Tax Reforms: Increase Rent Tax Credit to €1,500 per individual (€3,000 per couple). Extend tax credits for short-term skill courses in sectors like green energy and AI.
- Workforce Development: Target 12,500 apprentices annually, with two-thirds in construction/crafts.
4. Infrastructure and Climate
- Dedicated Department: Create a new Department of Infrastructure, Climate, and Transport to integrate housing, energy, and climate projects.
- Key Investments:
o?? €40 billion allocated to housing over the next five years.
o?? Increase renewable energy and water infrastructure spending.
- Green Initiatives: Embrace modern methods of construction and incentivize timber use. Fund universities to meet a 51% carbon reduction target.
- Housing outputs (2026-2030): 300,000 homes (split into private, affordable, social, and cost rental).
- Childcare savings: Families save an estimated €17,800 over ten years under the capped childcare costs plan.
The manifesto reflects a balance between targeted investments and fiscal prudence, with strategic emphasis on housing, childcare, and climate resilience.
Fianna Fail Manifesto.
Key Objectives and Initiatives
- Energy Prices: VAT on electricity and gas maintained at 9% for five years.
- Reduction of Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy, saving households ~€40.
- Childcare Costs: Reduced fees to €200/month.
- State Pension: Raised to €350/week.
- Continued reform of the taxation system to ease the burden on low and middle-income workers.
- 60,000 Homes Annually: A major expansion in construction by 2030, with €4 billion allocated to the Land Development Agency.
- Social Housing: Continued delivery of 12,000 units/year.
- Affordable Housing: An average of 10,000 affordable units/year.
- €2,500 tax credit for first-time buyers' legal and valuation fees.
- Increased vacancy refurbishment grants (+€10,000).
- Investment: Annual health funding increased from €18.4 billion (2020) to €25.8 billion (2025). Community Care: 100 new primary care centers.
- Cancer Care: €35 million additional annual funding, expanded screening programs, and genomic medicine investment.
- Reduced Class Sizes: Expansion of DEIS Plus for disadvantaged schools.
- Student Housing: Increased supply and rent caps.
- Curriculum Modernization: Addressing digital and AI literacy.
- Tax credit expansion for families and carers.
- Net Zero by 2050: Legally binding commitments and scaling renewables to achieve 9GW of wind and 8GW of solar by 2030.
- Home Retrofitting: Targeted schemes for low/middle-income families.
- Electric Vehicle (EV) Support: Grants and infrastructure expansion.
- Carbon tax revenues ring-fenced for green initiatives.
- €2.5 billion allocated to electricity grid modernization.
- Jobs: Sustained employment growth, with over 2.75 million people at work (highest in history).
- Enterprise Support: €250 million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme; €300 million Business Support Fund.
- USC reductions (from 3% to 1.5%) and potential abolition of the surcharge for non-PAYE incomes over €100,000.
- Incremental increases in inheritance tax thresholds.
Highlighted Figures and Tables
- Housing: A breakdown of planned investments in housing infrastructure, water, and transport.
- Economic Plans: Fiscal projections tied to €17.1 billion in one-off receipts for strategic investments.
- Health: Detailed allocations for hospital expansions, waiting list reductions, and ICU bed increases (targeting an additional 100 beds).
The manifesto offers a vision of a thriving and inclusive Ireland, underpinned by targeted tax reforms, increased investments in housing and public services, and a commitment to environmental sustainability.
Sinn Fein Manifesto.
The Sinn Féin Election Manifesto 2024, titled "The Choice for Change," outlines a comprehensive plan for addressing various issues in Ireland, with a focus on housing, healthcare, economic reform, and more. Here are the key points and ideas from the manifesto:
- Ambitious Housing Plan: Sinn Féin plans to deliver 300,000 new homes between 2025 and 2029, including 125,000 public homes (social, affordable purchase, and affordable rental), 115,000 private market homes for purchase, and 60,000 homes for private rent and self-build
- Affordability Focus: Homes will be priced to purchase from €250,000 and to rent at an average of €1,000 per month. The plan aims to double the number of new social homes compared to the previous government and significantly increase affordable home delivery.
- Public Housing Programme: By 2029, the programme aims to deliver 75,000 social rental homes, 25,000 affordable rental homes, and 25,000 affordable purchase homes. This initiative targets reducing council waiting lists and ending long-term homelessness.
- Universal Healthcare: The manifesto proposes bold steps towards universal healthcare by upgrading local health services and reforming hospital care. It emphasizes mental health reform and a rights-based approach to disability services.
Economic and Taxation Strategy
- Abolishing USC: The manifesto includes plans to abolish the Universal Social Charge (USC) for those on average wages
- Childcare Costs: Proposes €10 per day childcare to reduce the cost burden on families
- Investment in Communities: Plans to invest €1 billion from Apple Tax money into working-class communities affected by austerity
Social Welfare and Workers' Rights
- Workers' Rights: Strengthening workers’ rights is a priority, including increasing the minimum wage and ensuring the right to retire on a state pension at age 65
- Social Welfare Reforms: Includes proposals to improve social welfare systems and pensions.
- Climate Targets: Aims to meet climate targets by establishing a €2.5 billion Renewable Energy Investment Fund and overhauling the national retrofit programme to make it accessible for ordinary households
- Accountability and Reform: The manifesto calls for civil service reform, increased accountability in public investment, and political reform
The manifesto includes detailed tables outlining housing delivery targets up to 2030. For instance:
Social Democrats Manifesto
The Social Democrats' manifesto outlines a comprehensive plan for government with a focus on social justice, environmental sustainability, and economic security. Here are the key points and ideas from the manifesto:
- The manifesto emphasizes the need for affordable and secure housing, criticizing previous governments' market-driven approaches.
- It proposes building 75,000 affordable homes over five years, including 50,000 for purchase and 25,000 for rental.
- Strategies include using state-owned land for public housing, acquiring land through Compulsory Purchase Orders, and providing early-stage finance to not-for-profit builders.
2. Health and Social Care
- Full implementation of Sláintecare to provide universal healthcare is a priority.
- The manifesto calls for a dedicated cabinet minister for disability services.
3. Environmental Sustainability
- A commitment to achieving climate targets to avoid €8 billion in fines.
- Plans include developing offshore wind energy and promoting sustainable agriculture.
- The manifesto advocates for rebuilding public sector capacity and enhancing workers' rights.
- It includes a proposal for a tax on 'super wealth' to increase revenue without burdening low-income earners.
- Proposes establishing an Independent Anti-Corruption Agency and improving government accountability.
- Plans to reform lobbying practices and enhance transparency in decision-making.
The manifesto includes budgetary assumptions for the period 2026-2030, detailing average expenditure and revenue projections. It also outlines specific housing targets, such as building 50,000 affordable purchase homes.
The manifesto suggests implementing a tax on 'super wealth' to raise revenue while protecting consumers from unnecessary financial burdens. It also proposes redirecting resources from developer handouts to support affordable housing initiatives. Overall, the Social Democrats aim to create a fairer society by prioritizing public services, environmental protection, and economic reforms designed to benefit all citizens.
Labour Party Manifesto
- 50,000 new homes annually: An ambitious plan to address a shortfall of 250,000 homes.
- Investment: An additional €2.8 billion annually for social housing, aiming to increase the share to 20% of the total housing stock by 2029.
- Social Housing: 13,400 units annually rising to 18,000 by 2030.
- Affordable Housing: A target of 6,500 units per year.
- Increased Vacant Homes Tax to ten times the Local Property Tax rate.
- Reforms to Acquisition of Development Land laws to reduce land speculation.
- Living Wage: Raised to 60% of median earnings by 2026, progressively moving to 66%.
- Collective Bargaining: Enhanced worker rights and representation.
- Gender Pay Gap: Targets and monitoring for equitable pay.
- Apprenticeship Pay: Set at a minimum of the living wage.
- Restored tax relief on trade union subscriptions.
- New corporate obligations for recipients of public procurement funds.
- Energy Transformation: A €1 billion investment into offshore wind projects; 80% renewable energy by 2030.
- Retrofitting: Target of 50,000 homes annually, prioritizing low-income households.
- Green Jobs: Creation of jobs in energy efficiency and renewable sectors.
- Full ringfencing of carbon tax revenues for climate actions.
- Heat law and district heating regulatory framework funded through state mechanisms.
- Full implementation of Sláintecare, reducing waiting lists and staffing gaps.
- Investment in mental health services and healthcare worker retention strategies.
- Expansion of early childhood care with state-provided models.
- Increased investment in school places and support for children in poverty. Lifelong learning initiatives funded by the National Training Fund.
- Tackling price gouging and rent regulation through a rent freeze.
- Scaling back demand-side subsidies like Help to Buy, replacing them with income-targeted schemes.
- Increased stamp duty for bulk purchases of housing.
- Phasing out tax-inflating subsidies in favor of direct state investments.
- Establishment of a State Construction Company to stabilize housing delivery.
- State-led renewable energy and grid infrastructure investments.
Social Protection and Rights:
- Enhanced protections for renters, including "no-fault" eviction bans.
- A referendum on the constitutional right to housing.
Local Government and Accountability:
- Devolution of power to local councils for housing delivery.
- Increased accountability mechanisms in public services.
The manifesto is underpinned by a vision of equity, sustainability, and systemic reform. Investments across housing, climate action, and public services are proposed alongside increased taxation on speculative activities and reallocation of existing funds for greater efficiency and impact.
